Forever & Always
by AvidReaderAshley
Summary: Quinn gets the worst call of her life...based on the lyrics of "Forever and Always" by Parachute. Contains character death...and lots of tears.


Forever & Always

Quinn Fabray sits at the kitchen table of her townhome in New Haven, Connecticut – the one she shared with her fiancée, Cooper Anderson. She stared out the window, waiting for his car to appear in the driveway. He was over half an hour late, and she had no idea what was going on. She'd texted him over twenty times, and left who knows how many voicemails on his phone. She decides to place a call to his brother, Blaine, and ask where he is. The call lasts only a few minutes – Blaine hasn't heard from him either.

She stares back out the window with a sigh, and suddenly her phone rings. She doesn't know the number, so she hesitates before answering. "Hello?" "Is this Quinn?" A mysterious voice asks her. "Yes? Who is this?" The man on the other line sighs heavily, and she knows right then and there that something has happened. "It's Cooper. He's been in a severe car accident. We need you to come to Yale-New Haven Hospital right away." Quinn sucks in a sharp breath, and the tears start to prick at her eyes immediately. "I'm on my way." She mutters quickly before snatching her keys off of the counter and running outside to her car.

As she drives to the hospital – conveniently only a few minutes away from her house – she thinks about last December when Cooper proposed to her. She lets the tears slip silently down her cheeks as the scene plays throughout her mind. Before she even realizes it, she's pulling up to the entrance of the emergency room. She turns her car off and runs right in, going straight for the front desk. "Cooper Anderson." She tells the woman in a rush. The nurse takes her by the hand and starts to lead her down the halls. Everything is a blur to her with how much she's crying. The hallways of the hospital feel like a maze.

Suddenly the woman stops walking, and they're outside a room. The door is closed, but she can hear hushed voices coming from the inside. "Ma'am?" The nurse calls her, getting her attention away from the door. "Before you see him, you need to know that he probably only has an hour at the most. We've stabilized him pretty well, but he's fading fast." Quinn chokes on a sob, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. She nods then, and the nurse starts to open the door. She takes a deep breath, attempting to keep a straight face so that Cooper doesn't worry about her. She walks in behind the nurse, and her heart stops. He's lying there on the hospital bed, covered in blood, scratches, and bruises. She goes to his bedside, and sits on the chair next to it.

He reaches out a weak hand for her with a smile on his face. Her tears instantly start back up, and she uses her other hand to wipe them away. "Hey, now, don't cry," he whispers to her. She shakes her head, smiling at him. "I'm okay, baby." She tells him. She takes the hand that he's held out for her, and holds it a little too tight. "I'm gonna be okay." He tells her confidently, and her smile grows. "And we're gonna get married?" She whispers, to which he nods. He closes his eyes then, and lays his head back on the pillows. "And we'll have lots of Mini Coopers running around…in our big house."

The laugh that she makes is mixed with a sob, and she wipes away even more tears. "We'll live happily ever after." She says in a whisper. His eyes open then, and they hold each other's stare for a few moments. All of a sudden, she gets an idea. "Hold on," she tells him. She squeezes and kisses his hand once before getting up and leaving the room. Once outside, she asks the nurse if she can bring the chaplain to their room, to marry them before Cooper passes. Her voice breaks so many times while she speaks; it was a shock to Quinn that the nurse actually understood her. She returns the room, taking his hand in hers once more.

"I, um…I have something else to tell you." He looks straight at her with a smile on his face. "Yeah?" "I was going to surprise you tonight, but…" she trails off, her eyes looking over his broken body. She silently prays that he's not in any pain. "I'm pregnant," she whispers. His eyes light up and his smile grows. A tear slips down his cheek, causing Quinn to lose it. "Can…can I hug you?" She asks him, worried that any movement from her might hurt him. He nods, lifting his arms weakly. She lays her head as softly as she can onto his shoulder, wrapping her arms behind his back.

The nurse comes in, with the chaplain behind her, and they stand at the foot of the bed. Quinn pulls back from the hug, and instead stands by the bed holding his hand. The chaplain starts to say a few verses about marriage, and the two of them smile and listen. It comes time for Quinn to say her vows, and the nurse hands her some rings that she's borrowed from a couple next-door. She tells him how much she loves him, how much she will always love him, and how much she wishes that they could have got their forever. Before Cooper can start his vows, however, there is a knock at the door.

His brother Blaine rushes into the room, going to straight to Cooper's side with as much tears on his face as Quinn. "Sorry it took so long," he mutters out, squeezing his brother's free hand. Cooper shakes his head, smiling. Blaine notices the chaplain then, and he mutters his apologies, standing back so they can resume their wedding. Cooper launches into his own vows. Quinn tries not to notice the beeps (on the machine to Cooper's left) getting slower and slower as he talks. She sits back down on the chair by his bedside, and squeezes his hand tighter. His voice is so low that she can barely hear them. Sniffles are heard throughout the room, but Quinn doesn't bother wiping her own tears away.

Cooper finishes his vows on his last breath, and Quinn cannot take another. Her heart stops. The nurse makes a sad sound, and she and the chaplain leave the room. Blaine's face is one of shock and utter sadness, and he seems frozen in place. "No, no, no," She whispers over and over, practically throwing her arms around him, crying into his chest. "Quinn," Blaine whispers and starts to rub her back. She shoves his hand away, and clutches tighter onto her now-husband. Time passes; seconds turn into minutes and minutes turn into hours. The same nurse from before returns to the room.

"Mrs. Anderson, I'm sorry, but the visiting hours are over. We have a room for grieving families, if you and your brother-in-law would like to go in there." Quinn shakes her head, lifting it off of Cooper's chest. Blaine opens up his arms for her, and she goes right into them, crying even more. She hasn't cried this much in her entire life, and she's amazed that she has any tears left. "I'm gonna take her home," She hears Blaine whisper to the nurse, and Quinn shrieks.

She leaps out of Blaine's arms, and runs back to the bed where Cooper lies, this time getting onto the bed. She curls into his side and sobs, screaming "No!" over and over. Blaine comes to her side, and touches her arm softly, trying to get her to come with him, and she lashes out. She screams at him, telling him to leave her alone, and she holds onto Cooper with all she has. "Quinn! He yells, shocked at her behavior. She seems to snap back into reality then, her face blank and emotionless. Blaine stares at her, waiting for the next breakdown, but it doesn't come.

"You…you're right." Quinn whispers, before planting a sweet kiss on Cooper's cold lips. Her hand caresses his cheek and she gives him one last smile before turning back to Blaine. "Sorry," she tells him as they start to walk out of the hospital room. He shakes his head, wrapping an arm around her middle for support. Blaine leaves his car in the parking lot, instead driving Quinn home in her own car. She doesn't say a word on the ride home, not even when she opens the door and they go inside.

She goes straight for the living room couch, curling up with the throw blanket and kicking her shoes off. Blaine goes into the kitchen, making himself a cup of tea, then goes to sit on one of the armchairs. He doesn't turn the TV on, and neither one of them make a sound. They haven't even turned the lights on in the house. They sit in the dark, in silence, mourning the loss of the man they loved.


End file.
